Semantic roles/verb subclasses Flashcards
Agent
is conscious, acts with volition (on purpose), performs an action that has a physical, visible effect, and is a controller of the event.
- often the subject in a clause
Patient
an entity that undergoes a visible change in state
- often the direct object
Instrument
Something an Agent acts upon so that it accomplished the action
For example:
‘The keys’ open the door to the main office.
I opened the door with ‘this key’.
Participants
the participants can be divided into groups - participants grouped together behave in a similar way or show similar properties
Semantic roles
roles played by the participants in a scene
Force
an entity that instigates an action but not consciously or voluntarily
For example:
‘Hurricane-force winds’ demolished much of the town.
‘The Plague’ killed off all the tomatoes.
Theme
a participant that moves, or is the locus of an action or property that doesn’t undergo any change
For example:
‘The balloon’ floated out of the window.
‘The glass’ is on the table.
I always liked ‘this glass’.
Experiencer
an entity that receives a sensory impression.
For example:
‘Many people’ fear snakes.
‘The rhesus monkey’ had never seen snow before.
Their resourcefulness struck ‘her’ as admirable.
Recipient
an animate destination of a moving object.
For example:
He spared ‘me’ his usual sob story.
I paid ‘my landlord’ the rent.
Goal
The endpoint of a trajectory of motion.
For example:
Lucky raced to ‘the edge of the forest’.
Send the package to ‘France’.
Beneficiary
the entity whose benefit the action was performed
For example:
David filled in the form for ‘ his grandmother’.
They baked ‘me’ a cake.
Argument structure
- An arrangement of semantic roles and grammatical relations (subject, direct object, indirect object, etc).
- Every verb as used in a context has its grammatical structure.
(1) ‘My favorite snail’ died. (one participant = one argument)
(2) ‘Brutus’ stabbed ‘Ceasar’. (two participants = two arguments)
an argument (within semantic roles)
a participant that has a semantic role
Intransitive verbs (within semantic roles)
verbs that require only one argument.
(the only argument has the syntactic function of the subject and can have the semantic role of Agent, Patient, Theme or Experiencer)
Transitive verbs (within semantic roles)
-Verbs that require two arguments, syntactically they are subject and direct object.
- Very often the subject has the semantic role of the Agent and the object - the Patient.
(1) Uncle Scrooge (Subject/Agent) tore down his house (Direct object/Patient).
